As we mourn the horrific murder of Jordan Neely and join his community in rage, we are compelled to share some stories from our work that show the routine brutalization and criminalization of people with mental illness. 🧵 We hope these stories will radicalize you as they have moved our communities to question the current paradigms of public safety.

Most of these stories are deeply troubling. Almost all are clear examples where harm could have been prevented.

Please take care with the content.

🧵This weekend we’ll be talking about bail in Texas at #TribFest22. To ground our comments, we’ll be sharing stories of community members in Smith County whose stories illustrate the cruel consequences of wealth based detention in everyday communities across the state. Today we’d like to talk to you about Karen R., from Smith county. Karen is an elder Smith co. community member who, two years ago, was fighting stage three breast cancer when she was arrested and kept in jail because she couldn’t afford $165.

🧵CONTENT WARNING: Medical neglect, violence, pregnancy, fetal death, death.

It’s impossible to express the frustration, sadness and rage we shared with our community when we read Kelly Masten’s story last week.
star-telegram.com/news/local/for… On Apr 11, 38 yr old Kelly Masten who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy, was arrested during a mental health crisis call. Kelly's almost daily seizures from the age of 2, have left her with the capacity of a 5-6 yr. old. Unable to read, write or take care of most daily needs.

(1/7) This Mother’s Day, we stand unequivocally in support of incarcerated Mothers in Texas, and in solidarity with all Mothers who have had their children separated from them and put in a cage. (2/7) We stand shoulder to shoulder in rage with every mother who has lost their child to state violence in a jail, and in deep sadness we continue to fight for the 361 pregnant people currently caged in Texas county jails.

UPDATE:
We pushed through another grueling day. Conditions for folks inside remain dire. We’re angry, & increasingly concerned about the impact that poor sanitation & lack of water will have on the spread of COVID-19 in overcrowded jails. These are some of the stories we heard: 1) Harris: "We’re getting portions for kids. A PB&J and those Johnny sacks don't fill an adult. We haven't had laundry in 8 days. Water’s back but we still can't shower. Got a couple of bottles of water but that ain’t enough. If I wash my hands, I don’t have enough to drink.”

THREAD UPDATE:

1) Smith county- low risk facility has had no power or water since Monday. Can't order commissary. County's put in a work order for bottled water but have no idea when it will be fulfilled. Sheriff's office asked @TxJailProject to help bring in bottled water. 2) Galveston county - see attached emails about lack of water, using buckets to pee and a pregnant woman.

THREAD:
Update on TX county jail winter storm crisis. We're hearing directly from people inside jails across the state and their loved ones. Since this morning alone, we've distributed over $2,000 in commissary and phone accounts and have enlisted volunteers to increase volume. Here is what we are hearing from individual counties:
1) Bexar - "My spouse is at Bexar county adult detention center. He has informed me today, the pipes at the jail have been frozen since yesterday and they have no access to water. They're not being provided bottled water."

THREAD/ The devastating effects of backlogged courts, unsympathetic DAs and judges, missing court appointed attorneys, and COVID-19 outbreaks, are being felt in county jails across Texas. Here's a thread from our collection of letters received this month.

https://twitter.com/jsmccullou/status/1354824401817137152

The letters featured here have been collected from Gregg, Bell, and Harris counties. They reflect terrifying repeating patterns at jails big and small, hundreds of miles away from each other.

Meet Donnie: a talented artist trapped in a Texas county jail. In his calls and letters to @TxJailProject, Donnie told us about the medical negligence and excessive use of force he endured in Eastland & Erath county jails. These are the human stories of #COVIDtalesfromTXjails. Donnie’s indigent. He faces a crushing $25,000 bond. Unable to pay, he is left with no choice but to wait another year in jail, during a pandemic, for a trial date or sign a plea deal for a non-violent crime he says he didn’t commit.

1/7
A really important story about the power of one intentional and persistent community advocate. But what's more striking about the amazing @Dalilareyn82 is…

Their Unlikely Alliance Began at Whataburger. Can They Reform a Texas Jail? themarshallproject.org/2020/07/01/the… via @MarshallProj 2/7...her immensely empathetic nature. When this piece came out yesterday and congratulatory calls were pouring in, she called to say how sad she was that 64 yr old Tommy Gene Lindsey had fallen through the cracks again - both in life and in death.

Dallas detention officers told not to ‘spook’ inmates with masks as COVID-19 fears began, testimony shows dallasnews.com/news/courts/20… 'On Thursday, Katherine David, an attorney who was hired to represent the county, said if more witnesses testified, they would “be here until next year.” It’s unclear how much the county is paying David.'